Low Calorie Chocolate Brownies

Check this out black beans make these yummy gooey brownies low calorie and healthy-ish! Be sure to check out Veg Web fir more scrumptious vegan chocolate recipes.

Recipe submitted by Nadiana, 09/24/08

"Blackies" (Black Bean Brownies)

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

1 (15.5 ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
equivalent of 3 eggs (I used 3/4 cup applesauce + 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder)
3 tablespoons vegetable oil (I used canola)
1/4 cup cocoa powder
pinch salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup vegan sugar
1 teaspoon instant coffee or mint extract, to taste, optional
1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips, optional, but highly recommended
cayenne pepper, to taste, optional (don't use if using mint, but otherwise highly recommended)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 8x8" pan.

2. Blend everything together in your blender, and then pour into prepared pan.

3. Bake for 30 minutes or until the top is dry and the edges pull away from the side of the pan.

These are extremely gooey; keep this in mind!! You can't taste the beans at all, and I practically ate the whole pan myself, they were so good. Try them; you'll be glad you did!

Serves: 8-16, Preparation time: 40 minutes
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Photo by Dal veg

Meatless Monday Goes Global

Today is Monday so why not join the millions around the world that are going meatless one day a week? People are banding together to cut meat for personal health and the health of the planet.

Visit http://www.MeatlessMondays.ca
where you’ll find everything you’ll need to know to make meatless meals part of a sustainable, healthy lifestyle.

Going meatfree one day each week is a powerful way for each of us to reduce our ecological footprint and reconnect with foods that are nutritious, delicious and cruelty-free.

Taking part in Meatless Mondays is as easy as 1-2-3!

1. Get started – Sign up today to take your veggie vows! At meatlessmondays.ca, you’ll find great recipes, inspiring videos and helpful tips for your Monday adventures. You’ll also have the opportunity to sign up for our Meatless Monthly enewsletter to receive recipes and other tips for marvelous meatless meals.

2. Invite your friends – Send a personalized email or share us on Facebook and Twitter. Invite a friend out for a Lundi Lunch at one of Toronto’s many fabulous vegetarian restaurants or plan a Meatfree Potluck at your school or workplace.

3. Get cooking – Check out all the great resources meatlesstoronto.com has to offer: recipes, cooking videos, nutrition tips and much more. All brought to you by your friends at the Toronto Vegetarian Association.

Wondering what Meatless Mondays are all about? Find out why people from all over Canada are getting behind Meatless Mondays.

About Meatless Mondays Canada
Meatless Mondays Canada is a national campaign coordinated by the Earthsave Canada, Lundi sans Viande and the Toronto Vegetarian Association, supported by passionate individuals from coast to coast to coast. As individuals across Canada join Meatless Mondays, we hope to make Canada a world leader in providing healthy, sustainable, cruelty-free food to its citizens.
Find out more here: http://www.meatlessmonday.com/

Delicious Weight Loss Recipes and Strategies

http://blog.peertrainer.com/recipes/

Mediterranean Gourmet Power Bowl Recipe

This is just a sample of what the PeerTrainer group has to offer. They focus on new recipe ideas. New and creative ways that people can actually implement many of the ideas they present about eating for health and weight loss. " Our big objective is to find easy ways of eating a lot of high nutrient food, in a way that we find "crowds" out the other stuff, so that it becomes less of a big deal."

Mediterranean cuisine is one of my favorites. It feels so fresh and clean and tastes like spring. I created this after spotting a great advertisement by Udi's for their sundried tomato artichoke pizza. If you're looking to increase the vegetables in way that tastes great, reduce the wheat, have a "perfect protein", and leave feeling clean and full of energy, this is for you!

One thing we are working hard on doing is identifying foods that can be used in small amounts to deliver a big taste. Goat cheese is one of those foods. It is also a food that is a staple of "gourmet" cuisine. Of course we are here to help give you recipes to lose weight and get more energy. But if we also teach you some great "gourmet" skills, that will be an added benefit! Luckily my mother in law is one of the world's best cooks, and she has taught me over the years how to make healthy food dishes that not only taste great, but that impress your friends. Who among us does not want to make something for friends or guests and have them say "what is this, I HAVE to get this recipe." That is a pretty tall order, but that is our new goal with our recipes! Seems like fun at least.

Mediterranean Gourmet Power Bowl

1 can of fresh artichoke hearts 15 sun dried tomatoes (quartered) 1 pound of quinoa 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil 3 cloves chopped garlic (if you'd like to get fancy and have an extra 25 minutes, 8 cloves of roasted garlic, slice off the top and roast at 400 for 25 min. Or buy pre roasted)) 1/2 cup of basil leaves Few shakes of crushed red pepper Salt to taste Optional: 1 ounce of crumbled goat cheese Optional: Finely chop spinach, Kale, Bok Choy in the Cuisinart, and add it to help reach your 1/2 pound green goal for the day. Maybe you don't want to do this for company or friends. But it fits in very easily.

Prepare quinoa according to pkg. It's usually 1 cup of quinoa to 2 cups of water. I highly recommend preparing in the rice cooker. If you don't have a rice cooker just bring the water to a boil, add the quinoa, reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 15-17 minutes until it is fluffy. While quinoa is cooking, place artichoke hearts, sun dried tomatoes, chopped spinach/kale, olive oil, garlic, few shakes of red pepper flakes in mixing bowl. When quinoa is finished, add to bowl. Then add a pinch of salt and goat cheese! It is DELICIOUS!

If you want to eat healthy and lose weight, sign up for peer trainer's motivating emails. Your waistline will thank you. http://peertrainer.com

My Review of Chef Brooke's In Fort Myers

Went for lunch at Chef Brooke's Natural Cafe for lunch yesterday. Everything here is organic and fresh although not completely vegan. My flexitarian husband had the special of the day: Rainbow chicken with rice, beans and salad. He truly enjoyed it, thought it tasted great, was the perfect heat and felt great and energized after eating it.

My special of the day was a walnut and millet patty with salad. It was so good and fresh and I especially enjoyed the 3 types of sprouts in my salad. Oh yes, I started off my meal with a shot of wheatgrass. It was my first time ingesting wheatgrass that one of the employees at Brooke's juiced right in front of us. So healthy and pure. As my husband said, it's like drinking the lawn.

We ate outside at the tables since we had our puppy with us but there was a nice eating area inside with juice bar. They also had a variety of vegan and organic products for sale. Chef Brooke herself took our order and was very sweet. She made us feel very welcome. I would definitely recommend this restaurant to anyone who cares about their health, vegetarian or not.

Oven Baked Potato Wedges

From: http://www.fox59.com/lifestyle/food/sns-food-recipes-potatoes-baked-fries,0,7...

Almost all of us have wandered past a fast food restaurant or hot dog stand and felt an overwhelming desire for an order of fries. That smell of potatoes and oil can get to anyone once in a while. No fried foods, we may tell ourselves, followed by self-messages on the evils of high-cal, high-salt options. At the same time, we may want to run to the counter and start munching before reason takes over. The idea that almost anything is fine in moderation could be a rationalization when it comes to potatoes deep fried in oil. But, what to do? With the recipe here, you can save yourself from the french fry remorse you might suffer later on, and still get the fix you crave. "I recommend a two-handed technique: one hand on the bottle of oil and the other holding a measuring spoon," said American Dietetic Association spokeswoman Dawn Jackson Blatner. "It's important to measure oil because just 1 tablespoon has 120 calories. I also like oil mister containers that allow you to spray oil in a fine mist to control calories." Use the recipe to make baked wedge fries like the home-style ones some eateries serve up. Or create strips that have the crunch, taste and look that resemble those long, skinny ones most of us crave. Kay Stepkin is a vegetarian cooking instructor and former owner of a vegetarian restaurant/bakery. E-mail her at foods@tribune.com.

Oven-baked fries
Prep: 20 minutes
Cook: 35 minutes
Servings: 6
Note: You can use any type of potato. Don't peel the potatoes or many nutrients will be lost. Also by leaving the skin on, you'll get more crunch.

Ingredients: 2 pounds russet potatoes 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 teaspoon paprika 1/2 teaspoon each: garlic powder, onion flakes, sea salt 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper Pinch red pepper flakes

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cut each potato into eight long wedges; place in a large saucepan with salted water to cover. Heat over high heat to a simmer. Reduce heat to low; cook 5 minutes. Drain; place the wedges on a baking sheet. 2. Mix the oil and spices in a small bowl. Brush the oil mixture over the potatoes to evenly coat. Bake 10 minutes, turn wedges. Bake 10 minutes. Turn broiler on; broil until potatoes are crisp on top, about 5 minutes. Turn; broil until crisp, about 5 minutes

Nutrition information Per serving: 189 calories, 22% of calories from fat, 5 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 33 g carbohydrates, 4 g protein, 215 mg sodium, 4 g fiber.

Falafel With Tahini

One of my favorite vegetarian sandwiches! Check it out and be sure to click the following link for many more delicious French style recipes.

http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Falafel-with-Tahini

The seasoned chickpea mixture for this falafel should have a coarse texture. This will ensure a crisp shell and a moist interior. Source: Saveur Related Topics: Beans Bread Vegetables Fry Main Course Sandwich Middle Eastern Easy 19 Share Photo: Penny De Los Santos FOR THE SAUCE: 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped and mashed into a paste with a little salt 1 /2 cup tahini 1/4 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley 2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice Kosher salt, to taste FOR THE FALAFEL: 1/2 lb. dried chickpeas 1 cup roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley 1 tsp. flour 3/4 tsp. ground coriander 3/4 tsp. ground cumin 3 cloves garlic, smashed 1 small onion, roughly chopped Cayenne pepper, to taste 1 1/2 tsp. baking soda mixed with 1 tbsp. water Kosher salt, to taste Canola oil, for frying Warm pita, for serving 1. Make the sauce: Place garlic paste in a small bowl and add the tahini, parsley, lemon juice, and 1/2 cup ice water. Whisk until sauce is creamy; season with salt. Set tahini sauce aside. 2. Make the falafel: In a medium bowl soak chickpeas in cold water overnight. Drain water and place chickpeas in a food processor with parsley, flour, coriander, cumin, garlic, onions, and cayenne. Pulse mixture until it is well combined yet still coarse in texture, about 80 pulses. Add baking soda mixture and season with salt and cayenne; pulse to combine. Chill in freezer for 20 minutes. Use a spoon to portion the mixture into 1-tbsp. balls. 3. Pour oil into a 6-qt. pot to a depth of 2"; heat over medium-high heat until a deep-fry thermometer reads 340˚. Working in batches, fry falafel balls, turning occasionally, until they float and turn golden brown, about 2 1/2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer falafel to a rack set over a rimmed baking sheet. Serve in a pita with the tahini sauce. SERVES 4 – 6 This article was first published in Saveur in Issue #124

The Organized Traveling Vegetarian

I thought I would share this morning on how I organized myself to eat well while traveling. As you all know, most convenient food sources on the road is junk. From McDonald's to Kentucky Fried Chicken to Arby's and Wendy's all offer... Pretty much Nothing for vegetarians wanting to eat healthful foods. The solution? Pack your own foods and spice it up with once a day visits to selected vegetarian and vegetarian friendly restaurants in the cities you visit.

Here is a list of what I packed in a large cooler bag to last me 3 days minus one meal a day at a vegetarian restaurant. One bag of mixed lettuce and a container to mix salad in. Bags of pre-cut veggies: celery, red and orange bell peppers, 5 mini cucumbers, tub of hummus, almonds, veggie hot dogs, veggie lunch meat, rice crackers, avocado and tomato uncut. Oh yes, herbal tea bags to brew at the motel at night, lemon for morning lemon water and a pint of pre- made green juice. So far so good and we will be getting to our destination tonight in southern Florida.